Single‐cell fourth‐order difference approximations for $${\font\twelvesl=cmsl10\partial {\sl\bf u}\over\partial {\sl\bf x}},{\partial \sl\bf u\over\partial\sl\bf y}$$ , and $${\font\twelvesl=cmsl10\partial {\sl\bf u}\over\partial{\sl\bf z}}$$ of the three‐dimensional quasi‐linear elliptic equation

Finite difference methods of O(h⁴) are proposed for obtaining estimates of first‐order partial derivatives of the solution of three‐dimensional quasi‐linear elliptic equation with mixed derivative terms subject to Dirichlet boundary conditions on a uniform cubic grid. In all the cases, we use a single computational cell and the methods are applicable to the problems both in cartesian and polar coordinates. The utility of the new methods is shown by testing the methods on three‐dimensional poisson solvers in polar coordinates. Some numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the methods discussed. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 16: 417–425, 2000